All About Mentoring Spring 2011 - SUNY Empire State College

47
Lessons of War
Elaine Handley and Claudia Hough, Northeast Center
“War is so epidemic in its occurrence,
devastating in its impact, and lasting in its
aftermath, that we must study it and tend to
it and treat it.” – Edward Tick
He stood in the front of the room,
holding the book he authored
Ghosts of War (2009). Ryan
Smithson looked like a typical college kid,
not like a veteran who had recently spent a
year in Iraq as an Army engineer. Smithson
came to our War Stories class to read from
his book, to share how he came to write it
and talk about using writing as a way of
healing.
Smithson takes a deep breath, opens his
book and begins reading the chapter “The
Town that Achmed Built.” The students,
including three veterans, are riveted in
their seats as Smithson reads about being
ambushed by insurgents in the town of
Samarra. It is the first time he witnesses the
destruction of women and children. It isn’t
easy for Smithson to read these words that
describe the loss of his innocence. It isn’t
easy for the rest of us to hear them. We’re
all visibly shaken, including Smithson, who
pauses to compose himself. He
continues with another chapter
from Ghosts of War:
The hardest part of a
combat tour is not the
combat. It’s not the year
or more away from home
and family. It’s not sleeping
in Humvees or eating
MREs. It’s not the desert
sun that makes everything
too hot to touch. It’s not
the fear and wild atrocity
you experience. You get
used to all that. Bombs
are just bombs. Blood is
just blood. The hardest
part of a combat tour, I’ve
discovered, is coming home.
(p. 290)
Now the veterans in the class are leaning
forward in their chairs; they are really
connecting to Smithson’s story – the inability
to talk about what happened in Iraq, the
feelings of loss at leaving other guys behind,
the night terrors, the paranoia. Smithson’s
words are brutally honest – we’re all
getting emotional. When he finishes the
Ryan Smithson, veteran and student
Claudia Hough (left) and Elaine Handley
chapter, no one says a word; the room is
totally silent. The two younger vets speak
first. There is an instant tangible bond
between the vets and Smithson. They have
questions, they want to know more, and, to
our amazement, they immediately start to
open up about their own experiences right
in front of the class. It is a transcendent
moment.
Our veterans returning home to families,
jobs and college face overwhelming
obstacles, including the long-standing rift
between the military and the public. As
one student soldier put it: “The majority
of college campuses don’t support the war,
they don’t support what we’re doing …
it’s a struggle.” They often speak of being
invisible to the American public who is
unaware of some of the good they are doing
in Iraq and Afghanistan, such as building
roads and schools. It’s not so much that
they do not feel cared about; it’s more that
society seems to be unaware of what soldiers
are facing.
Adding to feelings of misunderstanding,
veterans returning to college are often
intimidated by the academic environment.
suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 39 • spring 2011